On August 17, 2018, the 49th anniversary of Hurricane Camille, the benchmark in Mississippi for devastation and survivability prior to the impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Mississippi Insurance Department (“MID”) filed its adoption of Rule 34.11 to amend the Mississippi Homeowner Insurance Policyholder Bill of Rights (“Policyholder Bill of Rights”) to include an Outline of Coverage and Comprehensive Policyholder Checklist.1
Continue Reading Mississippi is “Moving Slow as Molasses in January”
Mississippi Department of Insurance
Amy Bach and United Policyholders Supports Mississippi Insurance Protections
By Chip Merlin on
Amy Bach and others with United Policyholders provide a longtime and steadfast consumer protection organization devoted solely to the interests of policyholders. With extensive experience and appreciation of how much legislation can impact insurance coverage and claims, Bach provides a unique perspective with expertise on a national level concerning insurance policy and insurance regulation. Policyholders need more Amy Bachs to counteract the extraordinary coordinated efforts by insurers to make laws and regulations one sided in the insurers favor.…
Continue Reading Amy Bach and United Policyholders Supports Mississippi Insurance Protections
Mississippi Anticoncurrent Causation Language Is Dead
By Chip Merlin on
Mississippi State Senator David Baria admitted that his proposed legislative bill of rights for policyholders is “dead.” Mississippi S.B. 2196 would have eliminated anticoncurrent causation exclusionary language from property insurance policies. The Mississippi Senate Insurance Committee failed to act on the bill, thereby killing any attempt to enact a bill of rights.
Unlike other states,…
Moving From Insurance Regulator Of State Farm To State Farm’s Counsel
By Chip Merlin on
Posted in Hurricane Katrina, State Farm
I met Ralph Nader in San Diego about a decade ago. He remarked that a major problem with Departments of Insurance is that most have a revolving door to and from the insurance companies they supposedly regulate. Nader implied that unless laws prevent insurance companies, their vendors and law firms from hiring those who supposedly…
Mississippi Insurance Department Finds State Farm Wrongdoing But Not With Evil Intent
By Chip Merlin on
The Mississippi Department of Insurance finally issued its report regarding State Farm’s claims handling following Hurricane Katrina. The findings were long and will undoubtedly be subject to criticism and interpretation. I am certain State Farm publicists will try to undermine the Rigsby sisters’ claims even more since the report essentially concluded that their assertions were unsubstantiated. State Farm will also point to the findings that no penalties were warranted. Those same State Farm publicists will NOT point out that the investigation found State Farm employees were not forthright in their interviews. State Farm attorneys will certainly not tell judges or others that State Farm employees had various and contradictory explanations as to what the anti-concurrent language means and how it worked in the adjustment of claims in Mississippi.
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Continue Reading Mississippi Insurance Department Finds State Farm Wrongdoing But Not With Evil Intent